Friday, January 6, 2012

Sirocco the Kakapo Talks!

Parrots have their unique calls and as any parrot owner can attest you quickly learn which calls are associated with fear responses, well being, contact calls and so on. I didn’t know kakapo language when I was working with Sirocco and at first it was perplexing.

I finally heard the call so many describe as a “skraaak” on my second or third night working with Sirocco at Zealandia. The trainer in me wanted to know why did he do that? What does it mean? It happened after we had finished training, attended to his feeding station and were half way down the trail back to the house. My first thought was all our interactions had been really pleasant maybe it is a contact call and the skraak was his way of saying “come back”. Then it happened one night while we were heading back down the hill after Sirocco had displayed some aggressive behavior. That made me think maybe it was his way of saying “go away”. Finally longtime member of the kakapo recovery team Daryl Eason arrived to work with us. He is a walking encyclopedia on all things kakapo. We asked him what the call means and it soon became clear a ‘skraak” can mean different things under different circumstances.

Up to this point we had not observed Sirocco when he called. We only heard it. One night he skraaked during a training session! It was pretty fascinating to watch him do it. An innocent touch to his tail caused him to belt out a skraak. In this case he seemed mildly perturbed and perhaps a bit surprised by the tail touch. However he carried on with training right after the incident. Other times he skraaked when he was ready to exit the display area and another time he skraaked when he was perfectly calm and relaxed.

There was another vocalization we were lucky to experience almost every night. We were getting much better at reading Siroccos body language at this point and felt we had a good handle on what a “happy” kakapo looked like. Sirocco’s facial feathers would be nice and round, his body weight low on the perch and he would often start to get a half lidded sleepy look. This usually happened after he had consumed a few nuts and was starting to slow down in the training session. It was at this point he would start to “talk.” Sirocco didn’t talk the way we think of parrots talking, as in mimicking human sounds. Instead he would make this gentle, breathy chortling sound. He seemed to be more inclined to make the sound if people spoke gently to him or mimicked his sounds. To me it sounded similar to the noises an African grey parrot might make when feeling a bit “in the mood.” But Sirocco's gentle sounds were never followed by anything sexual. I would get to see what sexual behavior looked like on another night. More on that in the next blog.

I find that little Kakapo fascinating. Are they a Parrot? This little Sirocco is totally amazing. That little sound he makes reminds me of my Jenday Conure, Rikki Woo. Rikki will make screk sound and he will also say Bah....and jump up and down on his perch. I look forward to reading more on Sirocco The Kakapo soon.

In watching the video, I wonder if he's responding to the 'mumbling' sound going on in the background. Being that it's a continuous sound, and it happens when the trainers come in his space, so he's responding to it? Especially since he's now relaxing with the trainers around. He sure is facinating!

I didnt put a clip of it in here, but we found certain sounds we made could get him going.But he also definitely needed to be in this super relaxed state. This was just the first time he had presented with the three of us so we were all fascinated! Hence all our comments : )

I love your footage. Kakapos fascinate me. Sirocco sounds just like a chicken when they are contented and bedding down for the night. It also reminds me of a happy chortling parakeet.Thanks for the info!

The "talking" is very similar to the cockatoos I know, when they're feeling mellow and friendly. Since cockatoos are probably more closely related to kakapos than are African grays, I'd say that the cockatoo paradigm is more likely. The wing raise is also similar to cockatoo behavior when simply making a bit of friendly "conversation".

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About Me

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional in the field of animal training and behavior since 1990. She travels the world training the earth’s most unusual creatures using science based training technology. Her company Barbara's Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training products and services to the companion parrot, rabbit and guinea pig communities. Her products include books, videos, webinars and animal training workshops. She also provides consulting services to zoos, nature centers and other animal facilities. She is a clinical adjunct instructor at Texas A & M University. Barbara is a former president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators and served on the Board of Directors from 1997-2009. In her career she has trained animals, trained staff, lectured and/or presented shows at over 40 facilities around the world. Barbara has made over 200 presentations on animal training in 20 countries. She is famous for her enthusiastic and entertaining presentations, but her true gift is her kind and gentle approach to animal training. Her goal is to leave a legacy of kindness to animals and others by sharing her expertise.